Parasite influences on host life history: Echinostoma revolutum parasitism of Lymnaea elodes snails

Sorensen, Robert E.; Minchella, Dennis J.

doi:10.1007/s004420050507

Cited by 85 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Host responses to infection vary widely but include increased mortality, reduced reproduction, and changes in behavior (Sorensen and Minchella 1998, Sandland and Minchella 2003, Ebert 2005. We quantified how pathogen effects on host reproduction respond to changes in elemental food quality.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of a Bacterial Pathogen to Phosphorus Limitation of Its Aquatic Invertebrate Host

Frost

Ebert

Smith

2008

Ecology

107

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Abstract. Host nutrition is thought to affect the establishment, persistence, and severity of pathogenic infections. Nutrient-deficient foods possibly benefit pathogens by constraining host immune function or benefit hosts by limiting parasite growth and reproduction. However, the effects of poor elemental food quality on a host's susceptibility to infection and disease have received little study. Here we show that the bacterial microparasite Pasteuria ramosa is affected by the elemental nutrition of its aquatic invertebrate host, Daphnia magna. We found that high food carbon : phosphorus (C:P) ratios significantly reduced infection rates of Pasteuria in Daphnia and led to lower within-host pathogen multiplication. In addition, greater virulent effects of bacterial infection on host reproduction were found in Daphniaconsuming P-deficient food. Poor Daphnia elemental nutrition thus reduced the growth and reproduction of its bacterial parasite, Pasteuria. The effects of poor host nutrition on the pathogen were further evidenced by Pasteuria's greater inhibition of reproduction in P-limited Daphnia. Our results provide strong evidence that elemental food quality can significantly influence the incidence and intensity of infectious disease in invertebrate hosts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of a Bacterial Pathogen to Phosphorus Limitation of Its Aquatic Invertebrate Host

Frost

Ebert

Smith

2008

Ecology

107

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“…Shifts in resource allocation in response to parasite infection are well documented, although they are often inferred from shifts in life-history traits, such as fecundity and longevity (Sorensen & Minchella 1998;Hurd 1998Hurd , 2001Hurd et al 2001), and are only rarely measured directly (Kearns et al 1994;Brown et al 2000). In our experiment, we tested for nutrient reallocation by measuring the levels of other resources in the body that are known to produce glucose as a result of their catabolism: glycogen and protein (Nijhout 1994;Clements 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Energetic constraints imposed by parasite development have been implicated in the observed change in life-history parameters in several host-parasite systems (Toft 1991;Kearns et al 1994;Sorensen & Minchella 1998). In malaria vectors, energy depletion would come about either as a result of a direct competition for resources between Plasmodium and the mosquito or because infected mosquitoes require extra nutrients to compensate for parasite damage (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The energetic budget ofAnopheles stephensiinfected withPlasmodium chabaudi: is energy depletion a mechanism for virulence?

Rivero

Ferguson

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Evidence continues to accumulate showing that the malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) reduce the survival and fecundity of their mosquito vectors (Anopheles spp.). Our ability to identify the possible epidemiological and evolutionary consequences of these parasite-induced fitness reductions has been hampered by a poor understanding of the physiological basis of these shifts. Here, we explore whether the reductions in fecundity and longevity are the result of a parasite-mediated depletion or reallocation of the energetic resources of the mosquito. Mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium chabaudi were expected to have less energetic resources than uninfected mosquitoes, and energy levels were predicted to be lowest in mosquitoes infected with the most virulent parasite genotypes. Not only was there no evidence of a parasitemediated reduction in the overall energetic budget of mosquitoes, but Plasmodium was actually associated with increased levels of glucose, a key insect nutritional and energetic resource. The data strongly suggest the existence of an increase in sugar feeding in mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium. We suggest different adaptive explanations for an enhanced sugar uptake in infected mosquitoes and call for more studies to investigate the physiological role of glucose in the Plasmodium-mosquito interaction.

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“…Thus for this species it seems that populations are maintained by local reproduction. Parasitic castration has been documented in many snail-trematode associations (Sousa 1983, Lafferty 1993, Mouritsen & Jensen 1994, Sokolova 1995, Sorensen & Minchella 1998. The mechanisms by which trematodes castrate the snail host include chemical interference with host hormonal production in the pre-patent stage followed by physical destruction of host reproductive tissue in mature infections (Hurd 1990).…”

Section: Reproduction and Trematode Infectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of trematodes on host survival and population density in the intertidal gastropod Zeacumantus subcarinatus

Fredensborg¹,

Mouritsen²,

Poulin³

2005

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

119

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Ecological studies have demonstrated that parasites are capable of influencing various aspects of host life history and can play an important role in the structure of animal populations. We investigated the influence of infection by castrating trematodes on the reproduction, survival and population density of the intertidal snail Zeacumantus subcarinatus, using both laboratory and field studies. The results demonstrate a highly significant reduction in the reproductive output in heavily infected populations compared to populations with low trematode prevalence. A long-term laboratory study showed reduced survival of infected snails compared to uninfected specimens, for snails held at 18 and 25°C. Furthermore, parasite-induced mortality in the field was inferred from a reduction in prevalence of infection among larger size classes, indicating that infected individuals disappear from the population, although the effect of parasites varied between localities. A field survey from 13 localities including 2897 snails demonstrated that prevalence of castrating trematodes had a significant negative effect on both population density and biomass of Z. subcarinatus. This study provides one of the first demonstrations of population-level effects of parasites on their hosts in the field. The results of this study emphasise the importance of castrating parasites as potential agents of population regulation in host species with limited dispersal ability.

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Parasite influences on host life history: Echinostoma revolutum parasitism of Lymnaea elodes snails

Cited by 85 publications

References 43 publications

Responses of a Bacterial Pathogen to Phosphorus Limitation of Its Aquatic Invertebrate Host

Responses of a Bacterial Pathogen to Phosphorus Limitation of Its Aquatic Invertebrate Host

The energetic budget ofAnopheles stephensiinfected withPlasmodium chabaudi: is energy depletion a mechanism for virulence?

Impact of trematodes on host survival and population density in the intertidal gastropod Zeacumantus subcarinatus

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